February 1st-14th, 2021 - "Just Read!"

 Just Read! is a reading and dyslexia awareness program that supports ALL modes of reading!  It challenges the notion that reading with our eyes is better than other types of reading.  It promotes LISTENING to books while raising money to support the programs of Dreaming Dyslexic.  You can help by becoming a READER or DONATING!  

Help us spread awareness that ALL modes of reading are created equal!   

Readers

Sign up as a READER on our rallyup.com fundraising page to help us reach our $2,000 goal.  Set personal reading and fundraising goals and ask your family and friends to sponsor you.  For every $50 you raise, your name will be entered once into our prize drawings.  Other prizes are available for meeting fundraising goals!    

Most readathons focus on students reading a set number of pages.  For dyslexic students, this is often a difficult task.  Our readathon measures the number of minutes spent listening to an audiobook,  listening to another person read out loud, or reading braille.  There are still misconceptions that children do not get the same benefits from "ear reading" as they do from "eye reading."  It is important to realize that other ways of reading, should be considered real reading.  Ben Foss, the author of The Dyslexia Empowerment Plan and creator of Headstrong Nation, explains that we need to get over the feeling that listening to books is somehow cheating or not real reading.  Dyslexic himself, Foss points out that we don't question that blind people read with their fingers.  We also need to understand that many people with dyslexia read with their ears.  He encourages the use of the terms “eye reading,” “ear reading” and “finger reading” to encompass the variety of ways to read. 

An article from Discover Magazine explains that when researchers scanned the brains of people reading printed words vs listening to an audiobook, they discovered that the same areas of the brain were stimulated.  You can read the complete article here.

Benefits of Reading with Audiobooks

• Access to content above a child's ability to read printed books.
• Increased vocabulary.
• Promotes independence
• Students can read the same books as their peers.
• Increases comprehension
• Fosters a love of stories when children are not limited in their book choices.

Help us spread awareness that ALL modes of reading are created equal!   

• Audible* offers a free 30-day trial
• Bookshare *
• NOOK* from Barnes & Noble
• Librivox* 
• Loyal Books*
• Storynory*
• Overdrive* - Through your public library
• Project Gutenberg
• Gutenberg Reader App*

*Available as an app

 Books featuring characters with dyslexia or a learning difference.

• Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
• Whittington by Alan Armstrong
• May B. by Caroline Starr Rose
• Niagara Falls or Does It? by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver
• The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

Our Favorites

• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia Series) by C.S. Lewis
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
• Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
• Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo
• House of a Million Pets by Ann Hodgman
• Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osborne

Dreaming Dyslexic is a nonprofit organization that brings dyslexic youth together to remove the sense of isolation and discouragement that can come with being dyslexic.  Our goal is to connect, inspire, and encourage dyslexic kids.  Donations will allow us to offer more free/low-cost programs for dyslexic youth in 2021.